Tony Iommi has announced his brand new solo album From The Dark, out 23rd October via BMG. It is heralded by the single ‘World Alone’, which premiered at a global streaming event in the guitarist’s hometown of Birmingham, a stone’s throw from the Black Sabbath Bridge unveiled as a civic tribute in 2019.
‘World Alone’ is a thunderous rock song that speeds along on a barrage of flying riffs and solos, backed by a driving rhythm section and topped with the powerful operatics of Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande. Its video plays out in a retrofuture dystopia, where lead protagonist The Believer is pitched into a twisted video game to save his life and find salvation.
From The Dark sees Iommi joined throughout by Lande, who shares writing credits on every song, alongside bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil. It was co-produced by Iommi and his long-time creative partner Mike Exeter.
“It’s an album we’ve really enjoyed making,” Iommi says. “We’re not trying to prove anything. It’s a great album, it rocks!”
Across eight tracks, from the down-tuned charge of ‘Over The Violent Sun’ to the epic closer ‘Legacy’, Lande’s lyrics trade in dystopian imagery and the fleeting nature of human experience, never more so than on the nautical centrepiece ‘Stormwatcher’. A deluxe CD adds two bonus tracks, ‘Scent Of Dark’ and ‘Deified’.
The record arrives a year on from Black Sabbath‘s final show, 2025’s ‘Back To The Beginning’ in Birmingham, which proved a poignant farewell just weeks before the death of Ozzy Osbourne. As the founder and primary composer of Black Sabbath, Iommi helped create the very sound and vocabulary of heavy metal, an influence recognised with Grammy Awards, a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Freedom of the City of Birmingham and, in June 2026, an MBE.
A limited 7″ of ‘World Alone’, backed with an instrumental version, follows on 4th September, ahead of the album across deluxe vinyl and CD formats.
Read more about Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath at RAMzine.
